Excellent laptop for the price
Written: May 01 '06 (Updated Nov 09 '06)
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Pros: FAST, price, crisp screen, speakers, quiet, FAST
Cons: preloaded software, screen viewing angle, *slight* flex in keyboard... nothing to make me regret purchase
The Bottom Line: It's all about value. While not quite perfect, this laptop is perfectly priced. Performance wise...it's amazing. I would buy again if I needed another.
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| seththomas81's Full Review: Dell Inspiron™ E1505 PC Notebook |
After months of shopping around I finally picked up this Dell e1505, and I am VERY pleased with it. It's not perfect, but for the money I paid I couldn't ask more. I'm a senior engineering student who plays a few 3D games, does video edited and encoding, and quite a bit of multitasking.
If you are in the market for a laptop, be sure to consider this one. Even though I do more with my computer than most people, Dell offers several configurations to suit different individuals. Be sure to check out slickdeals.net and bensbargains.net to see if there's any deals available. I was able to buy a coupon off of ebay and use my student discount to get 41% off the "normal" price. NOTE: Dell never charges their full "normal" price; they continually have a "deal" going on.
My system configuration:
-Intel Core Duoprocessor T2500 (2MB/2GHz/667MHz)
-15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+
-1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm
-256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400 HyperMemory
-40GB 5400RPM SATA (although I planned on and upgraded to 60 gig 7200 RPM Hitachi)
-8X DVD+/-RW Drive
-Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
-Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)
-53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Paid: $1080 shipped (including MO taxes)
This laptop is VERY fast. I have had it for two weeks now, and it exceeds my expectations in *almost* every way. Just last night I played Far Cry on high video settings WHILE I was encoding a DIVX movie with no glitches at all (wow). Plus, the DIVX movie took right at 2 hours to encode...something that used to take 7 to 8 hours with my AMD 2500+. Multitasking is amazing, I've had Winamp with visualizations, Minitab14, 8 internet windows open, Word, Excel, and Power Point all open at the same time, and I was able to switch between them without any delay.
The screen is very crisp. I went ahead and upgraded to the WSXGA+ with Truelife. It has 1680x1050 native resolution. The higher resolution is nice for multitasking or watching movies (or both at the same time). The viewing angle wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it's probably on par with laptops of this price range. The only thing I don't care for is the high gloss screen (I believe this is called the "truelife" option). It makes images and movies look VERY life-like, but when I'm in the office and my face is well lit, I can see my reflection. It can get annoying, but you can adjust the tilt of the screen up or down to help.
The Radeon x1400 video cards excedes my expectations. I typically don't play many 3D games, but I did install Far Cry. I wasn't able to maximize the settings, but I was able to play on medium settings without any lag. Very impressed.
I was impressed by the sound quality of the speakers. No, they don't have much bass, but they are by far good enough to enjoy listening to music. My roommate and girlfriend both got this surprised look on their face the first time I turned up the volume.
I get around 2 1/2 hours on the battery with WiFi on, although I haven't tried watching a DVD on the battery.
Bluetooth: the Toshiba stack (drivers) aren't great, but they just updated them to work a lot better. (My Logitech bluetooth mouse used to freeze for a second every now and then. works fine now)
The keyboard is acceptable, although towards the arrow keys there is a little bit of flex to it.
Heat is not much of a problem. Compared to other laptops I have/have used, this stays quite cool. Not saying that your lap won't be a little sweaty after being on your lap for an hour, but you at least won't have singed hairs (for the guys). I picked up a laptop cooler from Newegg, and it works great... keep my lap cool, my laptop cool (extends life), and includes extra USB ports (that I don't use).
I almost forgot to mention that Dell includes a lot of extra software that most people have no need for. I went ahead and installed a new performance hard drive, which of course 'removes'/doesn't include these programs. Anyone else will want to go through the program list and uninstall the excess programs.
Customer service was adequate. I recommend going through Dell's online chat sessions for any problems. Otherwise, speaking with their Indian reps is a pain. I had a problem with them shipping the laptop to my billing address instead of my shipping address. The confirmation email I received was correct, but when they finally shipped it, they messed up. I was able to contact and get corrected. Note: the SALES rep was from the United States, just not tech support.
RECOMMENDATION:
I wanted an Apple laptop, but a Mac with the exact same specs as this one (except for the Apples have: a built in webcam, a slightly better video card, and Apple construction quality) would cost around $1000 more than this one! I couldn't justify that.
I would suggest that anyone buying a new laptop in this category go with the Duo processor and 1 gig of RAM. Besides this, you probably don't need the extra options unless you actually know what they are and know that you'll actually use them. If you play 3D games, you'll want the upgraded video card.
Shop around, look for coupon codes. Ebay has coupons for sale sometimes... you might spend $3 but save $500. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I hope this is helpful to someone out there!
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~~UPDATE~~
@6 Months
I have been using this laptop for over six months, and I'm still loving it. The only negative things about this laptop is the battery recall (which anyone BUYING this laptop won't have to worry about since all new Dells have been fixed) and I now have two dead pixels. The dead pixels showed up about two months after purchase. I honestly have only notice the dead pixels three times... twice watching DVD movies (dark scenes while I was sitting close), and then the other day while it was booting up (while screen was black). Knowing I have two small dead pixel is disappointing, but I honestly don't notice them. I'd say so if I did. =) Since I have a WSXGA+ screen (higher resolution = smaller pixels), this may contribute to me not noticing the dead pixels.
I also bought "Company of Heroes"... a very graphics demanding video game that a lot of gamers complain won't play on their computers. I can play this game with settings on medium! I was hoping it would play and low settings. For those that know this game, you should be impressed.
RECOMMENDATION PT2: I suggest getting the NEW Core 2 Duo processors. They are 64-bit as opposed to 32-bit (this will be a very nice option for when Windows Vista comes out) and show good signs of improvement over the Core Duo processors. I suggest going with a 60 gig (or larger) hard drive. Anyways questions? Let me know. I've been responding to inquiries.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1080
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
seththomas81
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Reviews written: 2
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